Silverleaf Travel Journal
by Silverleaf k'treva
Summary: My travel journal after leaving the Monastery
1. Intro

My name is Silverleaf. I am a Moonelf of the Clan K'Treva.

I spent my younger years travelling with my clan around High Forest. A lot of my time was spent reading and learning from other beings we encountered on our travels.

After many years of research and with the intention of expanding my knowledge base further, I entered the Monastery at Silverymoon. A city considered the foremost center of racial harmony, learning and culture in the North. I Spent 74 years studying and training at the Monastery and Silverymoon City Library.

Still yearning for more answers to the questions I had about the world around me and my place within it, I decided to leave and set out on my own to travel and learn from more hands on experience. See what opportunities the wider world had in store for me.  
This will be my travel Journal.


	2. Thundertree

The First 10 days travel from the Monastery were quiet and uneventful. Although it was nice to be back in the Forest after so many years around the City of Silverymoon.

I arrived at the Ruins of Thundertree, a small village destroyed by Mount Hotenow many years ago. As I walked along the path I noticed bodies of Ash zombies scattered around the outside of some buildings. As I stopped to get my bearings of the place I had wandered into, I was approached from behind by a Halfling who introduced himself as Aldaen. He motioned to the Ash Zombie bodies and advised me it wasn't a place to be wandering alone. He offered for me to join his party for safety, and mentioned there were most likely more creatures hiding than the few his party had already killed.

The adventuring party the Halfling belonged to was made up of 7 beings including a wolf, Toby, who Aldaen seemed to be connected to in some way. Destrian and Wohker were humans, Draerin a Minotaur, Balasar a Bronze Dragonborn & Sir Tiffy a large mechanical construct.  
I didn't get a chance to talk to any of the others apart from brief introductions as we set off exploring ahead.

While looking around the remains of the village barracks building, we were surprised by 4 Ash Zombies. My enhanced Elvin hearing helped me to identify the danger seconds before they attacked. I was able to strike one with my sword and two swift punches, sending his decapitated head flying. It must have been beginners luck though, as my next attempt saw me miss and accidentally strike Balasar instead. I get the impression It was a mistake Forgiven but not forgotten. The next two Ash Zombies were dispatched by other members of the party and the last dealt a fair bit of damage. A quick slice with my sword and he too was headless and no longer a threat.

So much gore covered us all and I'm not sure how I managed to hold my breakfast down. I don't think I would have faired very well by myself. As unusual as this group was, I was very glad to have come across them.


	3. Venomfang

Making our way across the village courtyard, we approached a building that was in better condition than the rest. It seemed to be locked and the windows were boarded up. Sir Tiffy smashed his Mechanical head through one of the windows, sending the board flying across the room into darkness. From inside, we could hear a thud and a load moan. Wohker threw himself inside the room via the now open window, musket armed and ready. From Outside I couldn't hear what was happening inside very clearly, but soon enough those inside joined us outside the front door.

There were 4 Dragon Cultists staying in the building. They were in Thundertree to study the nearby dragon, Venomfang. The lead Dragon Cultist advised us Venomfang was a green dragon aged in the early hundreds. Balasar being dragonborn knew a bit about green dragons, he said they were usually "less than nice" and quite poisonous. Destrian made an agreement with the Dragon Cultists that we would accompany them to Venomfang and they would help us kill him. We headed up to the Tower ruins where Venomfang was nested.

When we reached the Tower, Venomfang made his way down from the top. Speaking the Common Tongue he issued teasing comments to our party. The Lead Dragon Cultist offered him a chest full of treasure as an offering...and then had the audacity to proclaim we were to be part of the offering as well! By this point Venomfang was on the ground infront of our party, his head above us. The Dragon occultist were slightly to the side, so they were not affected by the Mist of poison Venomfang breathed out across our whole group. I suddenly felt sick as the mist touched me, my skin itched, lungs were burning and my breathing was laboured.

Everything after this happened so fast, I'm not sure I what happened other than what i was able to see close by me. I started aiming my sword strikes to slice at Venomfang's front legs where they joined his body. I hoped this would give me a weakness to exploit. I could hear Wohker's musket shots, roars of pain from Venomfang and Toby howling. I didn't see much of the Dragon Cultist's in the beginning of the fight, not sure what they were upto, but I had a dragon to focus on. At one point Destrian threw something, possibly a potion, at Venomfang. It must have hit his head, as the right side of his face started melting and falling off in chunks. There was clearly muscle and bone showing through. It was the break we we needed to get the upper hand. The Lead Dragon Cultist was killed, sending the other 3 running and we finally had a weak spot to focus all our attacks. Another Musket shot rang out, hitting the pained dragon in the side of the mouth and through his wings as he prepared to take off. As Venomfang cried out in pain, sinking to the ground from the latest injures, Destrian sliced him clean through the neck.

After cleaning up a bit, I looked around for anything useful. I'm still not sure what I will really need, out here in my travels, but better to take and sell off what I don't need than leave them and regret it later.  
I harvested the dragon carcass for a few things and also found some treasure inside the tower.  
150 Gold Pieces, 800 Silver Pieces, 1 Potion, 1 vial of dragon blood (tipped out my bottle of black ink to store the blood), a large section of dragon scale hide (about 11'2" x 4'11"), 2 Large front dragon teeth, 4 small-medium dragon teeth, 4 silver goblets, 2 spell scrolls & a dwarvin battleaxe.

I had no use for the battleaxe so gave it to Balasar, bit of an apology for hitting him earlier. I could read the spell scrolls but as I can't cast magic, I gave the Misty Step scroll to Draerin.

All in all, it was successful day. I think I could do with a few quiet days to rest so might head on towards Neverwinter city in the morning.


	4. Mithral Hall

We went to the Druid Reidoth's house to spend the night safely. After a night of rest, I said goodbye to the young men I had fought with and wished them well. I hope to meet up with them in the future.

After a few hours of walking, I heard a noise coming from the forest near the road. Only seconds after I unsheathed my sword, then 4 Orcs rushed from the treeline. The leader yelled something in Orcish and the other 3 descended on me. I tried to swing at the nearest orc, but still a bit in shock I missed completely. Lucky as a Elf I heal well, otherwise the few hits they got on me with their scimitars would have left decent scars. Gaining my focus, I connected a solid hit on one with my sword and punched another in his chest cracking his ribs beneath his light leather armour.

Before I could do anything else, 5 Dwarves charged from the same direction the Orcs had appeared. Battleaxes raised and a Warcry carrying them forward. I stood in the middle of the road, bloody sword raised in frozen in awe as these Dwarves took on all 4 Orcs and cut them don till none & nothing remained.

One of the Dwarves, the leader it seemed, approached me introducing himself as Melgus of the Mithral Hall's Clan. I asked him if they minded if I took one of the Orc's javelins, as I didn't have much in way of mid range weaponry. He said it would be fine, then looked me over noticing how much stuff I had strapped onto my pack. He then offered me a bag of holding. It was only small one 250Lbs holding capacity but as they are bigger on inside than outside, it would free up some of my pack space. Melgus saw my Dragon scale hide, and commented on how rare that was to find. After telling him briefly how I had come across it, he mentioned I should visit Mithral Hall to get it worked by their Armourers, known for their fine quality work. As we we talking, 4 more Dwarves arrived with 2 carts. He offered me a place as a travelling companion back to Neverwinter with their hunting party. 


	5. Wizard

Arriving in Neverwinter the next day, We arranged to meet again here in two days time. Melgus had something he wanted my help with. He had advised I should see Wizard the Wizard & Alchemist in the tower. I rented a room at the Lyon's Arms Inn, a relatively cheap but reputable accomadation.

I headed up to the Wizard Tower, the entrance in the side taking me up a huge flight of stairs inside. It seemed the head Wizard was out Hunting, but his colleague Thorn was minding his shop. Thorn had a look at my found potion and advised it was a flying potion. It would allow the drinker 1 hour of flight equal to their walking speed. He did say that it was imperative to keep eye on the time, as 1 min after the hour timeframe, if the person had not made their way to the ground they would plummet. Not so bad if only just off the ground, but too high and damage done by the impact could be fatal. I sold him my Lightning Bolt spell scroll for 5 Gold Pieces. Looking at my Dragon items, he suggested best to see the Dwarves to fashion scale & tooth into weapons and armour. The blood he took to make me a potion, it won't be too strong as the dragon was still young. I will pick it up next time I'm in town as it will take a few days to make. Overall 15Gold Pieces to make the potion money well spent.

Next I went quickly to the Fletchers before they shut up for the night. I bought a simple Elvin made shortbow and the Fletcher included a quiver & 10 arrows. Feeling better about My new shortbow and javelin, I made my way back to the Inn for a meal and ale. As I sat in my room organising my pack and moving things to new Bag of holding, I had an idea for one of the Dragon teeth. I drew up a quick design and decided I would go see someone about it on the morrow.


	6. Token of Venomfang

In the morning I went to the Crafter's Guild. I meet with Cerdic a short, white haired old man. I showed him my design and explained I wanted a dragon tooth to be shaped and carved into 8 pendants to be worn on a leather thong around the neck. I wanted a simple design of a dragon engraved into the pendants and dyed green to symbolise the green dragon Venomfang the tooth had come from. He told me to come back the next day to collect them. First he told me 30 gold pieces ready 3 days, but when I said I needed sooner He added 10GP to get them rushed ready to pick up tomorrow. Cheeky old man then charged me 45GP when I went to pay him. Still worth it, so I paid the extra.

I went back to Thorn at Wizard Tower to see how much it would be to enchant the dragon tooth pendants once they are made. I will come see him tomorrow after picking them up as it won't take long to place the enchantments on them. I will have 7 charmed with a low level poison detection enchantment. As poison draws near, the token will glow green, becoming brighter as the poison draws closer. If the poison is within 10' the token will be warm to the touch. These 7 will be given to the young men & wolf who fought alongside me. The last token I will keep for myself. It will have an additional enchantment placed alongside the first. Additionally if I take any poison orally or via skin contact, It will reduce the extent of damage done to me. This will be available to use 3 times per day, needing a long rest to recharge.

Spent the rest of the day shopping in the market square for travel rations and trinkets.  
My room in the Inn was quite comfortable and the food was pleasant. I will stay here again next time I'm in town.


	7. Skyship

I made my way back through the city to meet with the Mithral Hall Dwarves. As I approached I saw Melgus wave towards me. There were no Dwarven carts in sight. Melgus greeted me, saying they had bets on whether I would show or not, I'd just made him 100GP. He acknowledged that they had no carts with them, apparently we would be travelling a bit differently. He kept very tight lipped about where we were going or how we would get there. We headed to Wizard tower but instead of entering we climbed a spiral staircase leading around the outside of the tower. As we reached the top, the Dwarves started stepping off the top of the tower into...nothing?..they just dissapeared. When it was just Melgus and I left he told me to just step and follow him if I dared. So far he had been nothing buy kind and generous to me, so trusting him (and the flying potion in my pocket)I stepped after him. One step I was on the top of the tower, next I was standing on a Timber Dock. I could see a ship like the seafaring vessels but 3x the size. It was hanging in the air above us, floating on the air itself it seemed. It was a truly Amazing sight to behold. Melgus Looked amused and a bit pleased that I had followed him with little but faith guiding me. He told me that we were standing on a sky hold of the Dwarves a bit of a 'secret' of theirs.

Ropes dropped downs from the sides of the ship, hitting the dock. All the Dwarves standing with us started ascending the ropes quickly. Melgus nodded towards with and started climbing "come along lass, lets get going". The climb up was about 20' from dock to ships deck.  
As I reached the top and climbed on deck, I could see what was keeping the skyship floating. At the Port end was a massive Mythallar, a large glowing crystal created by the ancient magic bearing race Netherese prominent 1000yrs ago. There were also two smaller Mythallar crystals both sides at the rear of the Ship. There were large crossbows mounted either side front & back of the ship, defensive weapons I guess. Melgus called out to his men in dwarvish and they started pulling up the large guide ropes, attached at the bottom were Giant warhammers, they slammed onto the deck with a massive Thud. I could feel the magic in the air and infused into the ship, if not for this magic the warhammers would have done the ship damage.

Melgus turned to me "think it's about time I tell you where we are heading" The ship would take us North towards Mithral Hall. About a days travel by ship then we would go the rest way on foot. We would be tracking a Hobgoblin raiding party who had been causing issues in these parts. Melgus sent me down to my cabin to stow my stuff. Judging by the look of it it would almost have to be the best cabin after the Captain's.


	8. Braenor Battleaxe III

After leaving my pack in my cabin, I left to see if I could find anyone with bit time spare. I was interested in learning Dwarvish if possible. I came across a dwarf who I'd seen Melgus talking to earlier, possibly his 2nd in command. He introduced himself as Wulfgar and was heading to Messhall. He offered to take me with him, and was happy to spend some time teaching me basic Dwarvish.  
As we entered the Messhall I could see it took up a whole level of the ship. It looked like it cold even be bigger inside than out, More magic perhaps. The hall was filled with stone tables and benches and lining the walls were carved pillars. The walls themselves had an amazing silvery/blue veins running through them. I asked Wulfgar about it and he explained it as Mithral, what Mithral Hall was most known for. He said it was impressive now but even better at night when it would glow. Wulfgar then introduced me to the cook, Nislis, the only other female onboard. She handed us a plate each of Dwarven bread and meat in gravy. After sitting down she brought us out a pint of ale each, Mine she watered down as Dwarven Ale is mighty strong. I tried the bread, but it was too hard for me to eat very well. I managed to swallow one small bite after I had softened it slightly by holding it in my mouth. Wulfgar thought it was quite funny, but congratulated me on my attmpt. Most people can't eat dwarven bread due to how tough it is. We spent about 8 candle marks talking together and I managed to learn about 11 dwarvish words.

As the sunset the rest Dwarves started coming in for dinner. I said goodbye to Wulfgar thanking him for his company and help in learning Dwarvish. As I was about to leave he stopped me and told me Melgus was looking for me up on main deck. I headed up to See Melgus. He asked a bit more about Me and what had led me to the road into Neverwinter where he'd met me. While talking to him I noticed he had runes covering his arm. As the moon came out I noticed alot of the ship started glowing, it distracted me enough that I must have stopped talking. My eyes fell upon Melgus' arm as the runes there started glowing. He asked me what had me looking so confused, I admitted I was curious as to his runes. He told me that in Dwarven circles the runes were memorial marks of fallen brethren. Gold were for royal line, silver for Close Kin and blue for comrades. If you were with someone when they passed their rune was added to you. Melgus' runes were all three colours. He explained that he had been with his Grandfather the King when he had passed. His father now sat upon the throne. He apoligized for not been completely honest with me. His name, true name was Braenor Battleaxe III and in many years time, he would be King. I told him I understood the deception. One must have a life outside responsibility, to not know oneself, one can not hope to rule with honesty and integrity.


	9. Hobgoblin

In the morning I got my weapons ready and made my way up to main deck. The giant warhammer were being thrown down to hold steady the skyship. We climbed down to the skyhold dock below set amoungst the forests tree canopy. Braenor yelled to the men and then they began to run. The pace they set was surprisingly fast for beings only 4' tall. We ran until nightfall then made camp for the night. I sat with two young Dwarven fighters. They were twins, Grilren & Galmek, part of the Hunting party but also somewhat of a personal guard to Braenor.

We broke camp the next day and set off at a run again. A few candle marks later, Braenor silently called everyone to a halt. Through the treeline we could see 11 Hobgoblins sitting around their own camp. Braenor whispered to me that I would be with him, taking on the Hobgoblin Captain. He was taller than me by about 1', tall and impossing. The rest of the party paired off, eying the rest of the Hobgoblin raiding party.

I grabbed an arrow and notched it ready to fire. I was hoping to take the element of surprise to do some damage. As the rest of the Dwarves ran forward I let the arrow go, missing the Hobgoblin Captain's head. I looked quickly at Braenor but he seemed more amused than angry. I needed to get my nerves under control. Although I had not faced Hobgoblins before, I had faced off against a Dragon. I swang my bow back onto my back as I grabbed my sword ready. Lunging forward with Braenor right behind me, I hit the Captain slicing his face, then punching his chest plate. Braenor then came in with his battleaxe engulfed by blue flames. As he hit the Captain he was pushed away into a tree trunk, square indent could be seen on his chest plate.  
The hobgolin captain then threw a javelin at me, but it missed harmlessly flying past me. I charged him again but my sword missed. I punched him, the force could be felt coming off him as he went flying back into the tree behind. The trunk split with the force of impact. Braenor threw his warhammer hitting the captain where he lay, then the warhammer appeared back on Braenor's belt. the captain got to his feet again attacking me with a sword, slicing a gash along side of my torso. I hit back, ignoring the pain. Slicing his arm I server the tendons. Followup with punch sending shockwaves as his chest plate caves in and his ribs crack. He coughs up green/black blood. He fights back again, slicing my arm but the but is not too deep. Wulfgar calls out to Braenor from otherside of the clearing "little help here" Braenor throws his warhammer hitting the hobgoblin Wulfgar was fighting. He drops dead as his chest is caved in by the blow. The war hammer flies back to Braenor's hand. I take the opportunity of the distracted captain and slice off his unarmed arm, miss my first punch but follow it with a solid fist to his chest propelling him into the tree once more. His head collides with the tree first smashing it and possibly breaking his neck.

It turn around to see the captain was the last one left. The hunting party watches me in silence. Braenor looks impressed and smirks at me. Wulfgar tells me I'm part of the clan now. I'm not sure how series he is as he is oftern quite cheeky. Galmek comes forward to talk to the captain in hushed tones. Braenor comes to tell me one of the Dwarve has fallen in battle. This is the other side of adventuring need to be ready to deal with. His name is Torwin, a young fighter. I watch as the party cut trees down building a pyre in center of the lift Torwin's body up then lay his warhammer & sword onto of his chest. Braenor lifts Torwin's sleeve and carves a rune symbolising best wishes into the afterlife. The pyre is then lit afire as the party sing a dwarvin song. In a sombre mood we set off towards the skyhold. 


	10. Torwin

That night the feel on the ship was dulled and somber. The singing from the messhall was just as loud as the first night aboard, but the songs sung were not the happy tunes of previeous. Braenor asked me to see him in his cabin when we returned. He asked if he could give me Torwin's rune as I had been present for his death in battle. I was highly honoured to be offered. The rune was added to my shield arm, to help defend me from harm and evil. Forever I will carry the memorial of Torwin with me. It showed up in a mix of colour as the silver mithral was affected by my Elvin ancestry, mixing silver with green of my home in the forests.  
I stayed with Braenor to share dinner. We sat in silence as we ate, speaking only to toast Torwin.

After I left and went back to my cabin, Wulfgar knocked on my door. He had brought a book of basic Dwarvin with him to gift me. He then asked if I could teach him how to meditate, as he knew that as a Elf I did not sleep rather entered a meditative state to rest. We spent the night together meditating and remembering Torwin. In the morning, I said goodbye to Wulfgar and went up to see Braeno as we had arrived at Neverwinter skyhold.. He said that my cabin was now mine to use and I was welcome to leave anything I wished aboard. I thanked him, but as I do not have much and do not yet know what I will need, I said I would take with me this time. I thanked him for all his help and for his company. As a parting gift he gave me a pouch full of gold and a small jewellery piece. The ear cuff he advised me was to go on top of my ear, and would set up a telepahic link to him when used. I was to press it and think strongly or call out his name, he would hear and come if he could. I said good bye and headed off into Neverwinter. When I looked more closely at the red money pouch Braenor had given me, I saw there were some fabric in the bottom. they were wraps used over the fists in my monk training. These ones seemed to have a enchantment or magic woven into them. They would help my fighting immensly. 


End file.
